STARS AND MAVS CHOICE OF SCHWARTZ FOR ARENA DESIGN DRAWS IRE

The Stars and Mavericks chose DC-based architect David
Schwarz to design Dallas' new $230M downtown sports arena,
according to Joy Dickinson of the DALLAS MORNING NEWS.
Schwarz designed The Ballpark in Arlington and Disney's
World of Sports complex in FL. Stars Owner Tom Hicks said
some of the other preliminary designs "were a little too
futuristic" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/26). But a "losing
architect" said that arena developers did an "about-face" in
picking a design with a "historical rather than modernistic
feel." William Pederson, of Kohn Pederson Fox: "If that's
what they wanted, they should've told us that upfront"
(DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/27). Also in Dallas, architectural
writer David Dillon criticized the selection and wrote that
Schwarz "presented another piece of lick-and-stick
architecture that will make thoughtful observers wonder
whether Dallas can even spell 'millennium'" (David Dillon,
DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 5/26).